Beekeepers, Farmers, and Students to Swarm North Carolina State Capitol

RALEIGH - Farmers, beekeepers, environmentalists, students, and other members of the North Carolina community will swarm the North Carolina Capitol building in bee costumes on Saturday to help save the bees. Local stakeholders will speak and deliver petition signatures from more than 500,000 Americans, urging Bayer, one of the manufacturers of neonicotinoids -- a leading driver of bee declines -- to stop manufacturing and selling these harmful chemicals.

In the face of mounting evidence and growing consumer demand, more responsible retailers, towns and federal agencies have decided to champion the bee crisis. The European Union banned several neonicotinoids; Ontario, Canada pledged to reduce neonicotinoid-coated corn and soy seeds by 80 percent by 2017; cities and states across the U.S. have passed measures to address pesticide use; and more than 30 retailers across the country have taken steps to eliminate the sale of these chemicals.

Where: Outside the North Carolina State Capitol Building (south side across from Fayetteville Street), 1 East Edenton Street Raleigh, NC 27601; proximal to the Bayer CropScience North America headquarters and Bayer Bee Care Center in Research Triangle Park.

Who: Farmers, beekeepers, environmentalists, students, members of the North Carolina community and bee-lovers from Friends of the Earth, League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, Organic Consumers Association, Save our Environment, Sierra Rise, SumOfUs, and Toxic Free North Carolina.

Visuals will include activists in bee costumes, drawings of bees from Raleigh elementary school students and bee hives to represent 500,000 petition signatures.

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Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.

Further

Lord, what would John Lennon have made of the Trump monster? Marking Thursday's 36th anniversary of Lennon's murder, Yoko Ono posted a plea for gun control, calling his death "a hollowing experience" and pleading, "Together, let's bring back America, the green land of Peace." With so many seeking solace in these ugly times, mourns one fan, "Oh John, you really should be here." Lennon conceded then, and likely would now, "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."